Where Magic Lives... in Us

by Amy Warren Stoll, ALL EARS® Guest Columnist

Feature Article

This article appeared in the
December 30, 2008 Issue #484 of ALL EARS®
(ISSN: 1533-0753)

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This article originally appeared in the December 27, 2005, Issue #327 of ALL EARS®, but we felt it was timeless
and deserved to be read again!)

I'm sure this won't come as a big shock to anyone that many of
us go to Walt Disney World in search of a little magic. After
all, don't we use our Magic Your Way ticket, to enter the Magic
Kingdom, to watch the SpectroMagic parade, enjoy Mickey's
PhilharMagic, and take advantage of the Extra Magic Hours?
Aren't we even magically transported from the airport to our
resort by Disney's Magical Express? Okay, so maybe that last bit
of "magic" is still up for debate ... is the subject for another
article altogether ... and won't be touched by yours truly until
my asbestos suit is back from the cleaners.

Anyway, I'm confident that long before the Disney advertising
juggernaut spewed forth the notion that WDW is "Where Magic
Lives," a great number of us already believed it. How else do we
explain how Tinker Bell flies in the Magic Kingdom, how an
entire audience can be shrunk in Epcot, or how we can enter our
very own Twilight Zone at The Studios? What? You have an answer
for that besides magic? Really. Well. Uh... hmm... er. La la
la... la la la... I'm not listening. You go to the other room
and wait until I'm finished. We'll have no practical, technical,
or analytical explanations while I'm talking about magic. Be
gone with you. Now, where was I? Magic, yes magic. Certainly
we've all found our little bit of magic in every trip we've
taken. Perhaps it was in the goose bumps we got as the drums
sounded the beginning of IllumiNations, or in that "little
something" in our eye as the music swelled and fireworks lit up
Cinderella Castle, or maybe it was just in a simple hug from our
favorite character.

In my years of lurking on Disney discussion boards, in talking
with fellow Disneyphiles, and in reading the ALL EARS®
newsletter each week it's become clear that countless numbers of
us believe that there is magic to be found at WDW, and that when
we find it, we want to tell others about it. How often do we
arrive home from our trips to The World anxious to tell anyone
willing to listen (and a few who are just in the wrong place at
the wrong time) about our Magical Moments? We want to tell them
about how our little girl was enchanted by a conversation with
the real Cinderella, how we had the chance to sit quietly
holding hooves with Eeyore, or how our grandfather got choked up
(although he'll never admit it) when his whole family gathered
for his birthday during his first-ever trip to Walt Disney
World.

You should note that we don't call them "special" or
"incredible" or even "really cool" moments. No, we call them
magical, and we wouldn't have it any other way. But what makes a
magical moment? Is it a special event that's been meticulously
planned and engineered, perhaps with the help of a cast member?
Sure it is. Is it a trip that's been anticipated for months or
even years before finally setting foot in the middle of the
magic? Of course it is. Could it be a forgettable day made
unforgettable by someone seizing the moment and spontaneously
making some magic? You bet it is. Or maybe it's a moment when
everything stands still, when you see nothing but your friends
or family and the expressions on their faces, and in that
instant you know that there is nowhere else you'd rather be. Oh
yeah, that's one of the most magical moments of them all.

We all know that the cast members at WDW go the extra mile in
making our visits as special as possible. We all know that it's
often that extra mile that keeps us coming back again and again.
And, of course, we all know that without the cast members there
could be no Disney magic. Looking back through the ALL EARS®
archives of readers' Magical Moments, I read again and again of
the memorable things that cast members have done for guests.
Sometimes the cast member had clearly gone out of their way to
create some magic, even commemorating it with a "Magical
Moments" certificate. Sometimes they were going above and beyond
trying to remedy a trip gone awry, and sometimes there seemed to
be a little luck, or coincidence, or (dare I say it) a little
magic that brought everything together in just the right way to
touch the guest and spark what would be an indelible and
unforgettable moment. But I also noticed something else. While
most of the writers told us of magic that had been fashioned at
the hands of a cast member, there were other types of magic that
piqued my interest... and got me thinking.

I read several stories of guests actually creating magic for
other guests. A few mentioned the simple act of fellow guests
giving away their FastPasses, another spoke of a family
sacrificing some of their park time to "stay-put" and guard the
belongings of strangers when they realized the poor souls had
walked away without their bags. And one related the incredibly
sweet story of a husband buying an entire bouquet of balloons
for his new wife just so she could give them away to the
children around her! Goodness, tissue please.

As I read, I thought back to when I had been the "victim" of a
random act of magic in April 2004. I was treating myself to a
birthday lunch with the huggable characters at the Crystal
Palace. This was one of my "me, me, all for me" solo trips, so
during my meal I was enjoying my favorite solo-trip activity:
starting conversations with perfect strangers. Throughout my
meal I had the pleasure of chatting with the couple seated next
to me -- they were celebrating their recent wedding. Nearing the
end of the meal, my server surprised me with a birthday cupcake,
lit the candle and reminded me to make a wish. The couple and I
talked a little longer then they wished me a happy birthday
again, I congratulated them again, and off they went. I was
still reveling in what I thought had to be a perfect meal when
my server brought me another surprise. Another cupcake? No, even
better. Better than cake? Hard to believe. My surprise was my
check. It was paid in full! The couple had secretly bought my
lunch. A birthday present from a perfect stranger! Well, I was
dumbstruck by their kindness and actually started to cry. I had
to reassure every server (and even a few characters) that there
was nothing to worry about... that they were "happy tears" and
that this birthday was everything I could have wished for.

So why would this couple have done something so kind for a
stranger? Was it because they were filthy rich and did this sort
of thing everywhere they went? Not likely. Was it because I was
just so delightful that I needed to be rewarded for my
wonderfully entertaining and riveting conversation? Even less
likely. Was it because after a week of spending all their waking
hours with talking mice and dancing donkeys they had gone a
little loco? Possible, but let's save that discussion for
another time. No, after hearing so many other examples of guests
taking magic-making into their own hands, I'd like to think that
spending a few days immersed in the magic of Disney makes us
happier, freer, and gives us the idea to do those nice things
that may not come to mind during the hustle and bustle of our
everyday lives. Or maybe we just know that any kind or
thoughtful act in that environment is a potential magical
moment, and fuels the secret desire that some of have to be a
cast members making Disney magic.

Another type of Magical Moment that intrigued me was the magic
that we make for ourselves. I was delighted by the stories of
parents surprising their children with a so-called "last-minute"
trip that had actually been secretly planned for months and
months, and of a family spending their entire day at the Magic
Kingdom "chasing" Tinker Bell around every corner and going to
great lengths (a.k.a. golden cake glitter) to convince the
youngest in their party that Tink was just mere steps away. I
was heartened by the story of the large family who took the time
to let their "number one planner" know how special he was for
making their family gathering at WDW possible, and was struck by
the countless stories of those whose magical moments were simply
the emotion they felt when they were finally in the middle of
the magic, surrounded by those they hold dear, and seeing the
experience through their loved ones' eyes. Hmm. I didn't throw
away that tissue, did I?

I'm not sure if I know why the images of magic that people found
in themselves touched me so deeply. Perhaps they reassure me
that we carry imagination, wonder, and magic with us everywhere
we go, that we're not dependent on others to create it for us,
and that we have within us the ability to make special memories
for ourselves and others. Of course, it's certainly easier to
lend ourselves to magic-making when we're surrounded by others
doing the same. So for that, we have to thank the hard-working
cast members who put all the pieces together. They give us a
place to gather, they welcome us with a smile, they entertain us
with thrills and whimsy, then they wow us with spectacles of
music, light, and fire. In all of this, I think they give us
permission to suspend reality and forget many of the cares we
have at home, to see the magic in the moment, and to delight in
those people who are most important in our world. Then I guess
it's up to us to recognize those moments, then remember them,
relive them and share them when we return home.

So the next time we experience a magical moment, perhaps we
should thank Walt for creating a place where magic indeed
lives... in the stories, in the characters, and in the people.
But the next time we create a little magic of our own, maybe we
need to be grateful that Walt's dream is a place that inspires
us to believe, feel, and know that magic also lives in us.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Editor's Note: This story/information was accurate when it was published. Please be sure to
confirm all current rates, information and other details before planning your trip.